When did WWII in Europe become inevitable?

When did WWII become inevitable?

  • Before 1932

    Votes: 29 22.3%

  • 1933-34

    Votes: 28 21.5%

  • 1935-37

    Votes: 18 13.8%

  • circa 1938

    Votes: 33 25.4%

  • August 1939

    Votes: 22 16.9%
  • Total voters
    130

John Fredrick Parker

Donor
When was the point of no return for Europe?

Before 1932 -- there would have been another large scale war in Europe even if the Nazis hadn't come to power

1933-1934 -- Once Hitler rose and/or consolidated power, war was inevitable

circa 1935-37 -- After the Night of the Long Knives, it was preventable; by the end of 1937, it wasn't

circa 1938 -- At the start of 1938, the war was still preventable; by April 1939, it was not

August 1939 -- only with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (or the invasion itself) was Europe truly past the point of no return
 

Snaut

Hmm.

Assuming Hitler (and possibly some of his associates) aren't assasinated, I think some kind of conflict likely became extremely likely very soon after he took power, and at the time of the annexation of the Sudetenland it became inevitable that the war would be a fairly large one.
 
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Perkeo

Banned
Remove Hitler just hours before the attack on Poland, and the war is no longer inevitable. No one except Hitler will be such a fool to ignore that a mayor European war can be lost, and hardly anyone will expect Germany to get even as close to winning WWII as it did IOTL. Some other Nazis might still attack Poland, but they'll still have to secure their power and think about a way to deal with the thread of France and Britain entering the war.

Not removing Hitler will of course always mean war.
 

ljofa

I think as Ian's essay (remember that?) says, the German economy was unsustainable in its massive military spending. Once it was locked on course - if such a thing is possible in economics - war became inevitable from the point of view of the upper echelons of the Reich.

Although I ticked August 1939, I'd really say from March 1939 once the Wehrmacht was ordered into rump Bohemia-Moravia. That demonstrated once and for all that Hitler could not be trusted, that expansionism was the order of the day and it was only a matter of when, not if, his attention would turn to Danzig and the Polish Corridor.
 

Thomas27

Banned
WWII became inevitable when Japaneses shit in the fan in Manchuria 31/32. The Germans and Italians that can do what they want without fearing retaliasion from the US, UK and France.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
Given the conflicting ambitions and generally unresolved

Given the conflicting ambitions of much of the leadership in both the USSR and Germany and the generally unresolved issues of dominance over Central and Eastern Europe after 1918, and the probable reality one or both countries will end up in the hands of a militarized leadership at some point, I'm pessimistic about a major European conflict being avoided for the remainder of the century - whether that would reach the definition of "world war II in Europe" is, I suppose, in the realm of the debateable.

Best,
 

sonofpegasus

A second major european war in the 20th centuary was IMVHO inevitable as soon as the guns fell silent in november 1918 and the ineptetude of the Versaille treaty increased that cetainty. Whether this would turn into a second world conflict was becoming more certain post 1932 once Japan engage in it's Chinese war and alost inevitable once Nazi Germany and Japan became aligned.
 
Ditzy Vixen (RossN)

Ditzy Vixen (RossN)

Summer 1914. As soon as the First World War actually began a second was inevitable short of one side achieving such an absolutely crushing victory the vanquished side could not hope to rise again.
 

Jurgen Wullenwever

When did WWII in Europe become inevitable?
Click to expand...
I would say in december 1941, before then the European conflict was not really suitable to be referred to as "World War 2".

On the other hand, when were the events of december 1941 inevitable ... ?
 

ObssesedNuker

I say by the end of '37. Before then, German rearmament was not advanced enough to make a move by the Anglo-French against them anything more then a curb-stomped. By 1938, it was advanced enough for a pro-longed engagement and the Nazis (particularly Hitler) attitude towards how they would use that military basically made war inevitable.

Jurgen Wullenwever said:
On the other hand, when were the events of december 1941 inevitable ... ?
Click to expand...

Probably when the Americans hardened their diplomatic position with the Japanese and imposed the economic embargo following the Japanese occupation of French Indochina. Since the Japanese felt they couldn't lose face by bowing to American demands and they certainly couldn't allow their own country to just economically implode, that forced them towards the only other option: eliminating the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor so as to pave the way for their invasion and occupation of the resource-rich European colonies in Southeast Asia.

Once Pearl Harbour happens US entry into Europe requires, at maximum, a single, inevitable incident in the Atlantic between a US ship and a German sub.
 

jsb

August 1939

If the USSR don't agree an alliance with Germany but with GB/FR then I'm not sure Germany attacks Poland (even if that means getting rid of Hitler ? and he could just die anyway).

​
 

jahenders

Banned
I would have said it was almost inevitable back in 1938 with Germany's build up and land grabs. However, you make a good point. If, when Germany was offering a deal to Russia on carving up Poland, Russia had instead said, "No, we join France and the UK in guaranteeing Poland," it would have given even Hitler pause. Knowing that invading Poland would likely mean simultaneous war with UK, France, and Russia might have led him to attack elsewhere.

Still, there was almost certain to be some large European conflict, but it might not have grown as broad as IOTL without the Polish domino.

jsb said:
August 1939
If the USSR don't agree an alliance with Germany but with GB/FR then I'm not sure Germany attacks Poland (even if that means getting rid of Hitler ? and he could just die anyway).​
Click to expand...

​
 

Flocculencio

Donor
sonofpegasus said:
A second major european war in the 20th centuary was IMVHO inevitable as soon as the guns fell silent in november 1918 and the ineptetude of the Versaille treaty increased that cetainty. Whether this would turn into a second world conflict was becoming more certain post 1932 once Japan engage in it's Chinese war and alost inevitable once Nazi Germany and Japan became aligned.
Click to expand...

Agreed, and quoted for truth.
 

Memphis

Banned
1919- The Peace made things worst, and even the Allies could tell things would blow up again.

PM Lloyd George told President Wilson the Treaty was a bad idea

Either Germany or Russia was going to start it in Europe. Or Japan starts something in Asia that spills into Europe.
 

LordKalvan

I'd say between 1929, when the British pulled out of the occupation of the Saar 6 years before the agreed date, and 1934 when the continuing British appeasement policy toward Germany succeeded in killing the Locarno pact.

In 1929 Hitler was not yet in power, so pulling out was just a risk; in 1934 he was chancellor and the fire of the Reich had already happened, so it was a mistake. A fatal one.
 
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